Signs
by blueowls
Summary: Brittany x Santana, mentioned Rachel, Quinn. //The glee kids have come to learn that when Rachel's in the vicinity, there are signs.//


**Author Note: **None.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

**Signs**

The glee kids have come to learn that when Rachel's in the vicinity, there are signs, most of them audible. The crowds in the hallway part for no visible reason, until you look down and see her walking happily along, oblivious to the fact that everyone else towers a head over her. There's the high, grating voice echoing through McKinley's halls, the slap of little Mary Janes on tile, and if you hear "Streisand" or "ingénue," she's _really_ close. But sometimes, she pops up out of nowhere. It's kind of a freaky skill of hers and they figure it must be a height thing because there's no other way she could slip right under their radar.

They're all waiting in the glee room for Mr. Scheuster to show up when Rachel materializes in front of the two Cheerios. Brittany's sitting behind Santana and French-braiding her hair, and it's kind of amazing because it's _Brittany_ and even Rachel has to admit that French-braiding is _hard_. It looks good on Santana, though, because she has nice bone structure and Rachel smiles widely as she clutches her binder giddily to her chest, ignoring Santana's scowl and Brittany's blank look.

"It's come to my attention via Kurt that you two are—"

"Don't," Santana interrupts, closing her eyes, and Rachel's not quite sure if it's because she's deemed her unworthy of her full attention or because Brittany just ran her hand through her hair and slid closer. "Don't."

Rachel's smile is as bright as ever as she continues.

"—well, you know, and since this is Lima, after all—"

"Berry," Santana growls, and Brittany looks up from twisting a dark lock around a finger because Rachel's pushing the tentative truce the two of them had made during the sectionals competition.

"—I'm willing to aide either of you if you need any advice on how to deal with homopho—"

"Listen, Berry," Santana says, eyes opening as she pushes herself up off the chair, and Rachel feels like she did the time she and her dads were at the zoo and she leaned a little too far over the railing of the gazelle enclosure when she was younger and they only managed to pull her back by grabbing onto the back of her tiny argyle sweater vest. But she's saved by Brittany, who lays a hand on Santana's shoulder and effectively stops her before turning to Rachel, and even though she's not above cutting Rachel down—Rachel remembers, because Brittany's are some of the kindest insults she's ever received—she only smiles and nods, pushing Rachel toward the other glee kids.

"Thanks, Rachel. We got it."

Brow furrowed in confusion, Rachel's propelled away from them, and she drifts over to the cluster of chairs in the middle of the glee room, sitting down beside Quinn, who's gone from wanting to destroy her completely to being happy to simply ignore her.

"I was just trying to help," she laments, sighing heavily. Quinn arches an eyebrow—which Rachel has learned means she's said something ridiculous or redundant—and sighs loudly.

"They've got it covered, Man Hands," Quinn says, but the nickname lacks venom. "If you try that again, though, Santana won't hesitate to set up on another make-over for you with Kurt."

Rachel huffs indignantly and looks defeated, but apparently, she can't help herself, and the next day Quinn pulls on the corner of a folded piece of paper that's sticking out from under her locker door. She drops the ACLU pamphlet pointedly in Santana's lap in glee when she and Brittany get too touchy.

"Just don't go too hard on her," Quinn says as she takes a seat next to them, and Santana scowls as Brittany stops playing with her ponytail and reaches out to pluck the pamphlet from her lap, flipping through it.

The next morning, as Quinn's spinning the dial of her locker, she hears a scuffle behind her and a loud wail. She turns, frowning, because a slushie is kind of a harsh punishment for trying to help. But all she sees is Kurt hauling an unwilling Rachel into the girl's restroom, and she smiles and waves sweetly at Rachel before the door swings shut.


End file.
